My Kickstarter campaign to support Atlantic City has been launched!
ATLANTIC CITY — A PHOTO BOOK PROJECT
When Donald Trump was elected in November 2016, I knew immediately that I needed to do something as an artist and photographer. My work has always focused on the urban/social landscape, but I’ve generally avoided politics. Trump’s election, however, signaled a grave emergency, a threat to democracy and the freedom we take for granted as Americans.
Within days after the election, I drove down to Atlantic City on a hunch that this place, the epitome of Trumpian dystopia, would serve as a metaphor for the overall state of affairs in the United States.
I started by photographing Trump’s failed casinos, and then moved to the ravaged neighborhoods adjacent to these architectural behemoths, these internalized money machines. Rather than saving a faded Atlantic City, they have sucked the life blood out of its veins and enriched grifters like Donald Trump.
ATLANTIC CITY — CIRCA PRESS
I am fortunate to be working with Circa Press, a distinguished publisher of books on architecture and culture. And I am especially honored that Paul Goldberger, the Pulitzer Prize winning critic, is writing the introduction.
Books like this are expensive to produce, and I need your help in covering some of the production costs. Your pledge to my Kickstarter campaign will make this book a reality, and you’ll be rewarded by receiving a signed copy of Atlantic City, or one of the other awards offered.
This book won’t bring down Donald Trump, but it might help. It’s time for artists to step up — for all of us to step up. Make your voice heard by supporting Atlantic City.
— Brian Rose